Shiver
by Sinedra
Summary: Emily had been threatened with being given to the Shadowmen since a child, now she's their prey, what happenes when she revives one? Can Julian protect Jenny's daughter from the others of his realm? More importantly, can he protect her from himself?
1. A very Unlucky Girl

**I know I have so many stories to keep up with and update, but I can't help myself. I love this series so much that I just had to at least start one.**

**Disclaimer: Storyline belongs to me. The Forbidden Game is L.'s.**

* * *

**A very Unlucky Child**

I don't remember much from my childhood, I know, how unusual is that? Not very... I guess, but I can remember us all going to my great-grandpa's house, my family I mean. Mother had been talking about getting rid of it, way past time, the building was going to sit and rot if they didn't let people tear it down. Even as I child I could tell my parents were hesitant about going, that they were afraid. I even remember thinking how I should hold their hands as we went in.

Instead they called my Uncle Zack and Aunt Summer to come help us. I can't remember exactly how far away his house was, but I know I fell asleep against my brother, Alex's, arm and he slapped me for drooling. Cassie, my older sister, simply laughed as my older brother hit me awake. Mother tried telling us to stop, but she was almost too tired to punish us, being pregnant with Samantha and all.

"Alex and Emily Locke," my father would say sternly, "Cut it out right now or we'll give you to the Shadowmen. They would love naughty kids like yourselves." We would instantly stop fighting. Our parents had threaten us with the Shadowmen from the moment we could walk. They were hideous ugly beings that lived to eat bad children. I refused to be eaten.

We arrived finally arrived at the rotten ancient house, this is where my memory starts to get fuzzy. We spent the first few days cleaning out the top floor. A six year old can't do too much so I just sat around and played with my wolf stuffed animal. I remember that when they finally got done with the upper floors, they headed to the basement, but they refused to go through the door. Instead they broke a wall down and got in that way. I thought it was a game.

Instead of being interested in the books on the shelf, or the strange items placed around the room, my attention was drawn to a strange stick laying near the unopened door. I felt a pull to it, as though it had been placed there specifically for me, as though the door that everyone had avoided could do me no harm. Picking it up in my six year old hands, I figured it was just another part of the game.

There were strange markings all over the piece of wood, I couldn't read but I knew how to copy down letters. There was a lot of room on the stick and I remember wondering if I could somehow draw on it. I managed to sneak over to my mom's purse and find a pen, clicking it, I started wondering what I should draw.

I was very tempted to ask my mom, but a strange thought overcame me, she would yell at me. Maybe for the pen, or for even touching the stick, neither mattered... I hated being yelled at. My short attention span was pulled from the idea of trouble to a scratched out line above all the free space, it must have been a name. It shouldn't be scratched out, if it was carved into the wood then that was were it belonged.

Doing my very best, I copied the letters as best as I could, improvising the parts I couldn't make out. The wood seemed to hum and pulse underneath the pen, the black ink sinking into the wood and forming grooves. I figured that it was just what wood did when you marked on it. When I was finished, a word fell involuntarily from my young lips, "Julian."

My mother gasped somewhere in the room, something glass shattered, and the whole basement was freezing cold. I had a brief vision of brilliant blue eyes staring back at me, but then I forget everything else. I never have bothered to ask, and no one has offered to tell me... I should have asked, maybe I would have been better off.

* * *

**Bad cliffhanger, I know. Review please!**


	2. Crash

**I'm slowly but surely getting back to updating all my stories. I've just been so super busy (I know.. no excuse XP) but anyway. Thanks for the reviews, I didn't expect even that many for my first chapter. But here's the next one just for you guys.**

**Disclaimer: Plot belongs to me. The Forbidden Game belongs to L. J. Smith.**

**Enjoy!**

**Crash**

"Emily Lynn Locke!" I groaned as my mother called my name for the fifth time. I was trying to get a hold of my boyfriend... for what was the third day in a row without any contact from him. "Emily!"

Closing my old pathetic AT&T Razor, I jumped off my bed and swung open my door, the wood protesting to such an assault. "What on earth is it mother!"

"I still need you to go out and get groceries for the Christmas party. With your brother in college and your sister spending the day with her boyfriend, I need you to hop in your little VW to get food," her voice was too peppy for my taste. How could she be so happy when I was so miserable?

"Cassie spends all day with Greg! I can't even get in touch with Evan, and yet you want me to drive out in the freezing cold just to get food that you're too lazy to drive out and get yourself?" Safe to say I was a bit more than ticked off. First, my "wonderful" parents buy Alex a nice mustang (who cares if it was used?) then they fall in love with Cassandra's new boy-toy and forget all about poor little me. The only one I could connect with was Samantha. Sure she short, and was in the sixth grade while I was almost through with my junior year, but she understood me in a way that no one would comprehend.

Jenny, my mother, just stared up at me with the green eyes that I almost fully inherited, they were as beautiful as the gems they reflected. For a split second I thought I had seen fear, pity, and despair within their depths... a vision which had quickly faded; maternal anger took over as I figured it would. "Emily Lynn," here it came, "I had planned on getting you a new car for Christmas, but my money would be wasted if you never drive anywhere."

In an instant I had beige boots on, a blue turtleneck sweater, and white scarf. Purse rested on my shoulder and car keys in hand. "Alright what do you need?"

She merely laughed and sauntered back into the kitchen to create a list, as she did I checked my appearance in the mirror to make sure my eyeliner hadn't smeared in my haste. I had a generous amount of curls from both parents which glittered gold when kissed by the sun, right now it was tied back in a loose ponytail so the curls still tickled my upper back. My eyes were a dark evergreen, not brilliant like my mom's; they might have been but my father's hazel eyes had defeated any chance of that. Like everyone else in my family, except for my uncle Micheal (not truly a blood uncle but still) I was skinny, with dancer curves that I shared with only my sister. We have no clue who we got them from.

"Alright, Emmy, here's the list," mother came back out and placed a loving kiss on my cheek while pressing the paper into my open palm. "Oh, could you take Sam to the shelter in the mall? I figured you would like to take her since you volunteer and know which animals would gel with her. After all, all that girl wants is a pet for Christmas."

I loved animals, sure I could have a real job and get paid and have my own cash... but shelters let me have a hands on experience with animals that I would need if I ever was to become a vet. Besides, I had so many kittens and puppies depending on me. How could I just abandon them? This drew a genuine smile to my face. "Of course I will. Hey kidlet!" I called up the stairs, "Get ready! I'm taking you to my job."

There was no need for her to reply back for the short brunette instantly materialized, all ready to leave. Her pure hazel eyes glittered with joy that made my own heart shine, "Let's go let's go!" With that she was out the door and already tugging on the locked handles of my door.

"I might as well stop there first, no point in going through the woods twice with all the snow and ice if I only have to make the trip once," I told my mom.

She nodded and hugged me, "Remember to be careful and to call me if she finds one she likes."

"Got it."

"I don't want that phone out while your driving-"

"I know mom."

"Also-"

I cut her off again with a quick hug, "Look, I'll be fine but if I don't head out now I won't beat the snow." I hurried as I caught an annoyed grunt. Sam had her arms folded as well as she could from within the confines of her coat. "Sorry, you know mom doesn't trust me as a driver."

The eleven year old glared at me, "Let's go already. There are puppies and kittens calling my name!"

Laughing, I unlocked the doors and helped her into the backseat. Turning the radio on low, I started the car and blasted the heat; the temperature was at an all-time low for early December, it's normally in the 10's but it was in the negatives already. "Do you have anything in mind?" I pulled out onto the road and toward the nearest mall.

"What's going on between you and your boyfriend?" I was appalled by her question, did I not say that she knew me better than anyone else?

"Nothing..."

"Liar, your normally disgusting lovey-dovey high has disappeared. That's never a good thing with you; he hasn't called at all has he?"

Sighing, I couldn't look in my rear-view mirror to even glance at her. "No... I'm afraid it's going to be like-" I was cut off by my phone playing Katy Perry's "Firework". I immediately pulled over and turned down the heat. It was my personalized ring tone for Evan, there was no way in hell that I was missing this call. "Hello!" my voice was overly excited and I felt giddy like a child.

_"Hi, Emily it's-"_

"I know Evan, caller ID," in our whole year, he never knew I gave him a special ring tone. "So... why haven't you called?"

_"It's break."_

"That was obvious," I said teasingly. Honestly my heart was beating a mile a minute.

He didn't respond for several breathes and I was beginning to worry that we had lost connection. Finally I heard, _"Look... You know I went to my dad's over the break. There I started thinking, it's been a year between us, but in that year we haven't gotten any closer."_

What? Please tell me this wasn't happening, for Christmas I was getting a break up with my boyfriend? He didn't even ask if I was there, Evan just continued. _"Don't take it against yourself, I just don't think we really mesh. I met a girl up here... her name's Veronica, we hit it off the moment we met. If that happened so easily while I was with you_-"

"Just stop," my voice was too calm, was I really talking? "I get it, I really do."

_"Oh don't start. Not with the _"I get it"_ crap again Emily," _his voice suddenly annoyed me. I couldn't listen to it anymore.

"Goodbye Evan. I hope your presents are shitty this year and I hope Veronica breaks her neck after falling on the ice!" I slammed my phone shut and erased his number out of my phone immediately. Tears stung at my eyes, my vision blurred immensely.

A warm arm encircled my neck and Samantha rested her head on my shoulder, "Forget guys, you and I will be single old ladies together." I couldn't though, no, love was something I've wanted since I could write my own fairytales; it was not supposed to end this way! Mom and Dad, Jenny and Tom, the couple that had been born in love. Always together and never apart. Alex had his fiancée that he had fallen in love with at first sight the day he entered college. Cassie and Greg, together happily for all four years of high school. Sam, still too young for that kind of thing. Then there was me, three boyfriends in two years; Evan being my longest and my most heartbreaking.

How could I have such rotten luck when it was practically hereditary to have amazing relationships? Even my aunts and uncles who weren't blood related seemed to be the perfect couples. Instead of tears of pain, they became tears of jealousy; why was I deemed to suffer for them all?

"Sit back down and buckle up," I said as nicely as I could manage. Pulling back onto the rode, I kept thinking about it... I couldn't take it being the loveless romantic in the family any longer. In the depths of my thoughts I didn't realize I had been pressing down onto the accelerator harder and harder with my anger. It wasn't until Samantha screamed that I realized what was happening.

Sam's scream almost made me deaf as it snapped me out of my self-loathing. I instinctual slammed my foot on the breaks... yet it was too late. Something black was rushing toward the car, I screamed as a sudden vision of deformed twisted beings replaced the dark shape. Then I felt the impact... the force sent the car back and should have snapped my head down onto the steering wheel as glass rained down around me.

Pain seared through all my limbs as I cried out for Samantha. It was quickly gone as I was now freezing cold. The pain momentarily gone with fear for my sister, I tried sitting up. Something strong held me back. "Sam-" my voice was raspy as tears ran down my face once more, "Samantha!"

"Shhh, she's alive." A voice, like an angel in the depths of hell, it was reassuring. I believed this celestial voice. Cracking my eyes open, I was assaulted with a blue that was bluer than anything I had a name for; beautiful and cold all at once, yet... filled with worry. Was it all for me? As my vision cleared further, I noticed that the face to go with both eyes and voice was even more angelic... No, that wasn't right; he was a forbidden angel that had been banished from heaven for his beauty. Perfectly sculpted pale face and silver hair that put even the virgin snow to shame.

"Sam-" I tried to sit up again, he pushed me back down. His features not changing.

"Stop," I felt compelled to obey his words, "You could very well have whiplash, or even a concussion. Your lucky I was right here."

My throat hurt, but I had to speak or I would lose my sanity. "How d-did you get me out?"

"You might be better off not knowing."

"How about S-Sam?"

Silence, shame filled those blue eyes. I wanted to remove that look and make him smile. I wanted to know what his smile looked like. "...I could not get to her, someone else did," seeing my distress he quickly added, "But she is alive."

Those eyes... I knew them. I had to... "Who-... who are you?"

Seeming a bit apprehensive to answer, he hesitated again. "Emily, you can call me Julian."

* * *

**Yes, Julian enters the story early. Why? Well my plot wouldn't work without it, besides, even I miss him sometimes. **

**Review please.**


	3. Not Knowing You

**Ok yeah this was really really late, every update is late. Anyway more Julian so don't kill me. Just a warning, chapters probably will be short until I'm able to pick it up a little more, and if the title sucks then I'm sorry T.T but I couldn't come up with anything else.**

**Short A/N because I wanted to get this out there for you guys. By the way, thank you for all the reviews; didn't expect so many for the first few chapters. Please keep them coming though, it helps me remember my stories and try to spend more time working on them so you guys aren't wondering if I've died or not.**

**Disclaimer: The Forbidden Game belongs to LJ Smith. Everything else is mine.**

**Enjoy =)**

* * *

**Not Knowing You**

I opened my mouth to ask him why his name was too familiar to my ears, but his blue eyes hardened as they snapped off toward the white blanketed scenery. He was suddenly standing though the movement had seemed too fluid for the action. My vision started to grow blurry as he hissed at the snow. "They aren't yours to touch, find your own!"

"J-Julian."

Everything but those concerned blue eyes grew fuzzy and undefined. "Shhh, I'm getting you to help. Believe me, I will find you again later to discuss everything." I was too tired to argue and nuzzled against his chest as the chill made the pain a dull ache. I almost thought he staggered the moment I did so; then again I had a slight concussion.

Or so the doctors informed me when I woke up. I had found myself in a sterile white hospital room with monitors beeping rhythmically with my pounding head and IVs hogging my veins. One nurse explained that a young man had brought me here claiming to have passed by my car, a victim of a hit and run apparently, and found me still alive among the unstable debris. There he rushed me to the hospital with my cellphone so they could contact my family.

When I asked her to describe the boy for me, she had told me that it had happened so fast that no one was able to get even a name out of him. How convenient, I started to question the strange shape I saw and the image of the boy. I had to have been hallucinating. Another car had been rushing toward us and Sam had jumped out in time... No, there had been no other girl brought with me. In fact the staff had no clue that I hadn't been alone. Police had found my car and didn't even find remains in the burning heap.

When my parents and Cassie, even Alex, arrived the doctor informed them of everything. Telling them about my cuts and burns and cautioned them about my concussion; warning them that while it wasn't as bad as it could have been, I was being delusional about my little sister being the car with me. It wasn't until my mother broke down into tears that they took it seriously and got the police involved. It wasn't viewed as a hit-and-run anymore, but as an abduction.

I was eventually released and taken home, not allowed out of bed with my parents questioning me constantly about what had happened. I didn't want to tell them about the boy, I didn't really believe it myself. As more days past the more it seemed like a dream, I couldn't remember anything but the blue of his eyes in detail. Soon it didn't matter anymore as they simply believed I couldn't recall the incident because of shock. It was all about finding Samantha now.

Calls came in from my parents' closest friends. Uncle Zach, really my mother's cousin, and Aunt Summer came over and Alex moved back in for support. Things didn't go well at all, no one could find anything, not even physical evidence of her in the somewhat salvaged back seat of my car.

It was a hard week. My own friends called me, knowing that I felt like it was my fault that she disappeared. I'm sure my parents knew that I blamed myself... but they never acknowledged it. I was forced to wait at home until deemed well enough to be away from my room again. Having to get out, the first place I went was to crash site; not too hard to find when you're walking and the road is scorched.

Despite being a bit warmer, Pennsylvania winters were anything but fun, I was still wearing a heavy beige coat. My curls were held up in a messy bun and brown knee-high boots protected my feet from the chill that came with an hour hike.

I knelt by the blackened asphalt, anger welling up inside me. "Dammit Sam, I'm so sorry. I never should have picked up my damn phone," I felt a tear race down my cheek, already almost frozen, "When I find the creep who took you I'll make sure there's nothing left of him!" More tears followed the latter as I didn't even try to keep them from coming.

"That's going to be very hard when crying is the best you can come up with," a silky voice said. I leaped to my feet and whirled on the stranger. It was him... the one I had hallucinated. His blue eyes made my breath hitch and silvery hair hung some in his eyes and was a bit long for my taste... I liked military buzz cuts. I was dreaming again, right? Wrong. I had pinched myself so hard that blood started to well up in the two nail indents.

I never should have thought of him as a boy, he looked almost in his 20s and dangerously lithe like a track star. He was crazy though, it was the dead of winter and he was wearing a shiny black vest without a shirt to shield his chest and matching leather pants. A tattoo of a snack wrapped around his pale bare wrist and stood out against the white snow. His whole demeanor screamed dangerous, even though he appeared absolutely harmless. Mother had once said I had inherited her intuition...

I swallowed hard and stepped back; he was _too_ beautiful. Fallen angel might not have been correct, angelic demon maybe. I briefly reminisced about some girls at school gossiping about a serial killer running around. Rumors claimed him to be drop dead gorgeous. "Who are you?"

He sighed, not the reaction that I had anticipated. His blue eyes were guarded like he feared revealing his true emotions to me. "We discussed this in this very spot," he stalked toward me lazily, "I do remember telling you to call me Julian." Julian didn't seem like he was going to hurt me at all, his relaxed nature and calm voice reassured me immensely.

"Where's my sister?" I became bolder, furious that he had saved me while letting someone take her.

"Not somewhere you'd want to be-"

The sentence abruptly stopped as I lunged at him. Clutching his vest, I tried to shove him back with all the strength I could muster. I wasn't very strong but anger seeped into my voice just like I had wanted it to, "Where the hell is she! Why didn't you save her instead?"

Julian's hands gripped my wrists so hard, I had to let go with a hiss. His eyes blazed dangerously, "Do not dare attack me. It won't come without consequences." Meeting his gaze defiantly, we glared at each other for a good while. My wrists started to burn from the pain and extreme cold but I didn't waver. Neither did he.

I had to give, time was wasting while I fought with him. Stepping back, after yanking my wrists free, I retorted "I thought I had dreamed you up."

A smile was forced onto his face, it sent butterflies free in my stomach regardless. "At some point you'll wish I had merely been a hallucination."

"How did you know my name?"

"That's something for later."

"No! You said you'd explain when you saw me again," my fists clenched. I wanted to hit him, right in the nose. An eerie howl in the distance made me jump, my fight traded out for fear as Julian only glanced toward the trees. "W-who was it you were talking to before I blacked out?" I tried again unsuccessfully, "Was it the person who took my sister?"

He shook his head, "No. Come on Emily, you know exactly who I was talking to. I'm pretty sure by your stance you know who I am as well."

"What?" He was crazy, insane, a freak who just happened to be the cutest man alive. "I don't have any idea who you are. Which is obviously why I asked." It had nothing to do with my body half-turned, ready to flee.

The distance between us closed, I could feel the chill that clung to his body. The sensation was like being cornered by a tiger. _This is stupid, he clearly isn't carrying any weapon. He even saved your life. You have no reason to be afraid of him._ Did I? "You shouldn't walk anywhere alone. You never know who's lingering in the shadows, dear Jenny and Tom would break apart if another of their children vanished without a trace. Three times would be very trying on the couple."

I was numb at the mention of my parents' names. As far as I knew, they had no friend by the name of Julian. What could he mean by "three" times? "How do you know my parents?"

"I know them the same way I know you," he stated matter-of-factly. "Let's leave it be at that." That smooth voice grew quiet and blue eyes seemed to defrost, "You are so much like her, yet so different. I can't begin to fathom that." His hand rose as though to cup my cheek and quickly fell at my quick intake of breath.

He closed his eyes as another howl echoed through the silence, closer this time. "I shouldn't have shown myself to you so late. It was clear that after awhile your senses would come back and now you'll be too bull-headed to believe anything I tell you."

"All I want is-"

"Your sister back, I know. Sadly your determination is directly inherited from your mother; she was impossible to deal with because of it..." the last part was so quiet that I almost couldn't catch it. "I want to talk with you more but now is not the time. Go home."

"No."

My anger re-flared as he gave me a dangerous look, "Unwise to not do as I say, especially since right now I'm trying to help you. It may be the only time we are such sides. Now leave before you see something you wished you hadn't."

My feet unwillingly took a step back, his eyes glittered in amusement as I tried to fight my fear of him. "You can't intimidate me-" the wind had suddenly picked up, I had to shield my eyes as the snow was thrown every direction and branches groaned in protest. Nearby, the ground hummed as several impacts crashed against it; dropping to my knees and curling up, my hands uselessly trying to guard the back of my head.

Several silent minutes past before I had the courage to rise up on stiff legs. The street, which had previously been clear before, was now buried by snow. The pieces of ice that lay so close to me stated that icicles had been the cause of the noise; it was impossible though, no branches hung above me. I warily glanced back at Julian, half expecting him to have vanished.

Instead he just stood there, holding himself tall with mesmerizing eyes that glowered at me. Julian was completely unaffected by what happened, his hair not even ruffled. This was enough to freak me out as I quickly turned on my heels and hurried off. It turned into a run as I couldn't keep my fear contained.

I was so full of adrenaline that when I burst through my front door I wasn't even tired, despite having to walk most of the way home. My mother and Uncle Zach were talking with each other in the living room. After tearing down great-grandpa's house, we had all moved from Cali to Pennsylvania, some kind of memorial to him. They were talking about David, he was their only son and had graduated with my brother.

When I entered they both jumped out of their chairs. "Emily? Where on earth did you go?" Shaking my head, I walked past them both and collapsed onto the couch. Why had I talked with him? He was a stranger... "Emily-"

"Do you know someone named Julian?" it escaped my mouth before I had even thought it over. Her gasp would have been enough but Zach turned pale and sank into a nearby chair. "Well?"

"How-"

"Who is he?"

"How do you know him?" she looked horrified as she remained frozen. Even after Sam disappeared I had never seen her so fearful. Suddenly it felt as though not telling her what had happened wasn't the worst mistake I could ever make.

Trying to calm myself down, I spoke slowly. "Just wondering," it came out shaky despite the effort. That's when it occurred to me how his name had been familiar, great-grandpa's house... The strange stick that I barely remembered, the name that came involuntarily from my young lips, _Julian._

"See, I sort of remember what happened at your grandfather's and it's strange how I just said that name." Before I went and told her about what happened, I should work out what went on then. Maybe a few things could be clarified. No need to make myself look more like a psychopath.

Both adults seemed to relax at my comment. "I don't know why you did dear. He was just someone that your father and I knew in the past," she replied warily. I had a feeling that he wasn't just someone they knew. "Julian wasn't the kind of guy anyone would enjoy knowing," no arguments there, "but he died years ago." Obviously he hadn't... how could he look so young though?

I would have dropped it but I couldn't leave it be that he was just some guy who should be dead... unless he was a ghost. "There was a strange looking piece of wood, I remember feeling compelled to write on it." Both adults snapped their heads in my direction, "I was too young to recognize letters but I tried to copy what had been scratched out. When I finished I spoke his name; that's when I forget the rest of the trip."

Mom looked as though she wanted to say something but her cellphone went off. Without even glancing at me, she said, "Em, please go upstairs. I just need to talk to your uncle."

Reluctantly, I obeyed.

Once upstairs, my jacket was stripped off and hurled onto my bed. I soon followed it as I laid back. "Just what are you exactly?" I demanded of my ceiling. The house creaked and shuttered as a heavy wind buffeted it; a grim howl on her gales. My heart started pounding, it was like he was trying to answer my question.

* * *

_"No, baby, you must have heard it wrong."_

"Tom I'm sure of this. She came home looking more frightened than the time a spider crawled onto her arm at driver's ed. Emily asked about Julian. She didn't seem to surprised to hear me confirm it."

Silence on the other line. _"What did you tell her?"_

"Just that we were acquainted with a Julian, that he was unpleasant but died," Zach hadn't been able to do much but worry with Jenny. She had wished Julian peace if he was reborn... but didn't think it would actually happen. Especially not after her youngest daughter's suspicious disappearance.

_"What was her response?"_

"She just said that it was strange how she said the name years back. Then she told me she found some strange stick when we were tearing grandpa's house down and then wrote on it..."

_"Do you think it's-"_

"Yes, I believe it was... I thought I heard someone say his name, that's why I dropped that glass charm. But then it started storming, we tore down too much of the house and we were all so soaked that I merely picked her up and put her in the car without giving it a second thought."

Zach studied his cousin carefully, only guessing as to what the other part of the conversation was. All he could think about now was what this shadow man had done to him and Summer, how it scarred them both. True, everyone had gotten stronger, but all it took was one little word to bring back the horrors.

Jenny almost knew what Tom was going to say before he spoke. _"Hun, I think it's a coincidence. It's been 11 years. If he was free, wouldn't he be trying to get back at all of us? Make our children's lives miserable?"_

"What if he's been waiting?"

_"Jenny I love you. Julian's gone and won't be coming back; it was just coincidence." _Right, he had to be right after all, it just wouldn't make sense if Julian had come back and not done anything to them. It was all just a strange and very freaky coincidence.


	4. The Shadow Men

The Shadow Men

Curiosity wouldn't leave me be, it shadowed me everywhere I went, dominated my thinking until all I could see was the questions that begged and wailed – demanding to be answered. I would often creep into my parent's room while they were gone, trying to find any clues as to what was going on; a smile was brought to my face as I remembered doing this during Christmas to see my presents. For a week I invaded their room.

When this search yielded nothing, I made my way to our basement and dug through countless boxes. This seemed just as pointless until I found an old journal, my great grandfather's. He spoke of shadows and experiments, to me it seemed liked the rabble of a madman.

Though, it brought up the memory of my mother's tales to us children: the Shadow Men. She had made them out to be twisted and grotesque, Julian was handsome beyond words. "This makes no sense," I fell to my knees and kicked the box in frustration, "You said you would help me!"

"I said I would explain," I jumped back with a frightened gasp, "not that I would assist you." There, in the corner of my musty basement was Julian himself. His hair was bright even in the darkness and his eyes lit upon my shaking form. "You really should learn some patience."

"When Samantha is out there with some stranger, I don't think so," I hissed back. His expression didn't change and he said no more. "So let's start at the beginning, what are you?"

"Haven't you guessed yet?" his voice was more languid than I remembered.

Raising back onto my feet, I took a hesitant step toward his lithe form. "My parents would scold us with stories of the Shadow Men, scaring us into good behavior. I remember having nightmares about them...but their just stories."

One white eyebrow rose fluidly, "Really? Then why haven't you confronted me about being in your house? Or are you just not that curious as to how I let myself in?"

He was right... for some reason it hadn't really shocked me that he was here. I'd half expected it. "Because somehow you are one. The stories don't add up and it shouldn't be possible...yet I know it's true."

Julian, who had been leaning against the brick wall, pushed himself upright and sauntered toward me. He continued past me and turned so that he was facing my back, I shivered as one cool hand brushed blond curls behind one ear. "See?" his cool breath hit my skin, "I told you that you knew. You should just listen to me more often."

Pulling away and putting distance between us was the smart thing to do, my mind tried to reason with me. Yes, smart and safe...but my body had no desire to retreat; more importantly my fluttering heart didn't either. "I don't know you well enough to trust you," I whispered.

"You don't? I saved your life, and I haven't done anything to harm you."

"What about the icicles?"

"Should you have stayed, you would have witnessed something terribly unpleasant. I wanted to save you from such a sight."

"You're also a Shadow Man," I couldn't hold back the shiver that made its way up my spine. "That's how my mother knows you, you must have done something to her and my father or the fear wouldn't have shown in her eyes like it had. Her stories spoke of the horrors you are capable of inflicting. There is no reason for me to trust you."

My breath hitched as I felt his lips brush against my neck, "Still, you haven't moved. Am I to believe that you fear me when only your heart trembles?"

Embarrassed and frustrated, I abruptly drew away from him. "I _do _fear you. Thing is, I know you are the only one who can help me get my sister back, that is if I'm right about who has her."

We stared at each other for several long seconds before he nodded, "The keeper of your sister is one of my kind, I'm afraid I don't know his motive for doing it though."

"Who?"

"There are many Shadow Men, how would I know?"

My eyes seemed to automatically travel to the small dark box I had found tuck deeply into disorganized pile. Hidden away from the eyes of innocents. Slowly, I made my way back over to it, back to the place my great grandfather's journal had been tucked in. Digging through the packing material and crumpled newspaper, my fingers caressed a piece of carved wood.

With a hiss, I drew my arm back at the stinging feeling. Looking at my fingers, they remained unmarked, yet tingled as though stabbed or pinched. Trying once more, I wrapped my whole hand around its circumference and jerked it out once the feeling engulfed my palm. It was the piece of wood I had carved upon when only 6.

The silence coming from Julian was deafening. So I spoke for him, "I summoned you by carving your name didn't I?"

"I had been forced out of existence when they gouged my name out... when you rewrote it you gave me a chance to be reborn," it was the first time since he had saved me that his voice was so quiet.

"What is it?"

"It's called the runestave. I holds the names of every single Shadow Man in existence; a new name carved in means the birth of a new Shadow Man and one carved out means-"

"His death." My voice was quiet as I finished for him. "Why was yours carved out?"

He gave me a wicked smile that caused me to recoil from him. "I disobeyed their laws and so they unmade me. Perhaps I should thank them. I'll have many more years of looking handsome while they must suffer in their hideousness.

"The tales Jenny told you were true. As we grow older, our features twist to look like horrific nature."

My body was shaking now, shaking with a fear that I should have felt much earlier. "My parents were the cause of your death weren't they?"

His smile faded but his features remained frightfully intense. "I sought after your mother in her youth and drug her and her friends to my realm. My times they bested me, the last time I didn't have the heart to fight anymore... not when I saw that her feelings would never be for me. My kin wanted their prisoner though, and I refused to let them have her or anyone with her. Thus, my rebellion led to my end."

His confession made my mind swim, it answered so much and yet... didn't. He had been after my mother? Why was he messing with me now, was it for revenge? No. For some reason it just didn't make any sense to me.

Blue eyes watched me carefully as I tried to contain my rampant emotions. I felt foolish for thinking him handsome and for secretly believing he fancied me when he cared for my mother, I was frightened of him now that I was sure of what he was, and I was overwhelmed by everything.

A Shadow Man had my sister and now I'd have to get her back by myself... I couldn't let my parents face against them again.

"Emily." I couldn't look at him, even as he made my name sound angelic, "give me the runestave." That was all he wanted? The runestave? I felt my self-esteem drop drastically as I held it out, my eyes on the floor. It was was so silent that I could almost hear the wood being turned in his hands.

When he finally spoke again, his voice held a hint of confusion. "This is new." Looking up, I noticed that he reminded me of a cat; the curiosity in his features made me think of the term "cat and mouse". Just who was the mouse?

"What is?"

"This name," he indicated a scrawling of lines within the wood, they seemed fresh. "It wasn't there when they gouged my name out." Upon looking at it, it just seemed like a random alignment of scratches. Noticing my perplexed gaze, Julian explained. "It says Talin, he must have been a replacement for me since they deemed that I was a failure."

"And you were." This new voice made me stagger backward, in which I tripped over a box and landed on my rump. The stranger was just as handsome as Julian, but if Julian looked like a fallen angel then he was a devil. His onyx black hair was just as long if not longer than Julian's and his golden eyes reminded me of a wolf.

At his appearance, Julian was in front of my fallen form almost immediately, acting as a barrier between he and I. "You must be Talin," I had never heard the Shadow Man's voice so cold and icy, with me it always seemed as smooth as silk or a purr like a cat's.

"Seeing as I'm the only other young Shadow Man, that would be correct." Talin looked as tall and dangerous as Julian but his voice was more of a growl than a purr. His leather pants and tight sleeveless shirt emphasized his muscles to a dramatic proportion. I felt like I was locked in a room with two hungry beasts, I was too paralyzed to move. "Now, if you wouldn't mind moving, I'd like to continue on with my hunt."

Julian's body stiffened and he took a step backward, closer to me. "Why on earth should I do that?"

"Because you failed in your own hunt, and shouldn't even be standing before me. I'm here to redeem our race by proving that no one can out-beat us, to make them suffer through those closest to them."

"Over my dead body will you touch another member of this family," Julian snarled. I jumped at the sound. "I've lived much longer than you Talin, it would be smart not to mess with me. I want the girl returned or you'll find your name cut out of the stave." He held up the wooden piece as though to make his threat that more absolute.

Despite his seriousness, Talin only laughed at Julian. The noise was demonic and made my blood turn to ice. "Don't spout threats at me, you might be older, but while you were pining after your lost love and watching her family, I've been hunting. So you're a bit out of shape now aren't you?"

"I still have the stave."

"Go ahead, carve my name out. You won't ever find the girl without me."

"What do you want?" Both men looked at me. Julian looked shocked for I'm sure he knew I was frightened beyond measure, and Talin held only an amused grin. "Please, I want Samantha back."

The younger Shadow Man pretended to think as I pulled myself off the ground and cowered behind Julian. "Well now, you could always take her place in our realm. Or you can fight your way back to her. Maybe you could hand over the rest of your family for the-"

"No!" He chuckled at my scream, "You can't have her and you won't have any other member of my family."

"Well I've given you my terms. Hurry and decide because your sister is awfully scared." With that his form faded back into the shadows and I felt my resolve shatter into tiny pieces, which would I choose to save my sister?


End file.
